My Life
by belasgrl
Summary: Joey writes her life's story. Warning: Contains topics that may be very disturbing to some people.
1. Chapter 1

I'm really good at music and art. I would have never said that a year ago. Writing is something that I don't know if I'm good at since I've never written much, but I'm going to try it. I think it might help.

I'm doing a lot better. The medicines and counseling have helped a lot, and Mr. Peabody has been great. Life is so much easier now, but it never was before, and it's still a struggle sometimes. It's mainly demons inside my mind that make life far from perfect and bring me down. Memories that I wish would fade will never go away, and, to be honest, they still haunt me. I still have nightmares. I still have days where I don't want to get out of bed. One day, Mr. Peabody told me that writing my feelings down may help, so I guess I'll try. So, here goes. 


	2. Chapter 2

I was born on July 28, 2001 in New York City, New York. My name was Josephine Andrews, and I weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces. That's pretty small for a baby, I guess. My parents' names were Jaimie and Kyle. I know they weren't married. That's about all I know about my birth.

When I was five, I noticed that my parents argued a lot. I remember a lot of yelling and screaming, and they didn't play with me much. My dad was an alcoholic, even though I didn't know it at the time. My dad left my mom and me when I was six. I remember him and my mom yelling at each other until he stormed off, left the house, and never came back. Later, I found out that he had gotten shot and killed by a cop after robbing a liquor store and trying to attack the cop. After my dad left, my mom started doing drugs and was really mean. She died when I was 7.

I remember when child services found me. My mom was already dead when they got there, and I was really sick from not eating since my mom used all the money we had for drugs. I was scared and alone, and I didn't fully understand what was going on. All I knew was that I was alone.

Life just went even more downhill from there. I was placed in a lot of foster homes. A lot of the parents didn't really care about me. They just wanted the money they got. I guess I was bounced around so much because I didn't "act right". I was quiet and shy and barely talked. I never opened up to anyone. I never showed my true feelings. I never got attached to anyone, and I was a loner. I always rather sit in a corner and read a book than go outside and play with other kids, so I didn't have any friends. I got made fun of by the kids in school and even by my foster brothers and sisters. I don't remember many of their names. I have such a bad memory, which is both a blessing and a curse.

Some of my foster parents were abusive. Sometimes, kids at school would push me and hit me. I was a punching bag and an easy target. It never did any good to tell teachers because people would just continue doing it, and I didn't know how to defend myself, although one time when I hit a kid back, I got punished.

Nothing much changed except who I stayed with, even when I became a teenager. It actually got worse when I started junior high. It was a huge change from grade school and more stressful. School is a jungle full of people who hate you if you don't follow the crowd. Sure, I made decent grades, but that didn't matter much because I was miserable.

When I was twelve, I started cutting. The first time I did it, I disassembled a razor and ran the blade across my skin. I needed a release, and I didn't know what else to do. I hated myself for being so different, and I blamed myself for everything that had happened to me. When I ran the blade across my skin, I felt like I was releasing the pain I felt. For the first time, I felt alive. To hide the scars, I wore long sleeves, even when it got hot. I just told people I was cold natured.

Finally, I was caught cutting myself, and I got sent to a mental hospital. It was hell. There were people there with all sorts of mental disorders. I already thought that something was wrong with me, and yet, I still felt like I didn't fit in, even with those people. I was forced to be in group therapy, which I hated since I didn't like being around a whole bunch of people. You couldn't use pencils or pens there because they could have been used as weapons. You had to wear special clothes for a few days. I think wearing your own clothes became a privilege if you were really good and cooperative. After each meal, you had to turn in all your silverware, and if even one utensil was missing, the staff would check everyone to make sure we weren't hiding anything. I desperately wanted to get out of there, so I followed the rules and was compliant.

I was diagnosed with depression and sent home with prescription for medicines. That just made things worse. I got made fun of because people said I went to the "loony bin" even though I hadn't told anyone that I went to one. It was easy to figure out where I went since I was a freak. The diagnosis made things worse at home, too. Nobody wanted to deal with a depressed, suicidal, cutting teenager. Life was hell.

Then, I met Mr. Peabody. 


	3. Chapter 3

I thought that Mr. Peabody was going to be like all of the other foster parents. At that point in my life, I was so numb and apathetic that I didn't even care that he was a dog. I knew he was rich and had a penthouse. I never lived with a rich foster parent. Most of them were either poor or just well-to-do, but none of them were extremely wealthy. Frankly, I didn't care about how much money any of them had. They were all the same, and I never had a home or a chance to feel comfortable anywhere.

When I first started living with Mr. Peabody, I didn't talk to him much. I didn't want to be around him much. He did, however, shock me a few times because he acted differently than other foster parents I had had. He had prepared a bedroom all for me. He was nice to me and actually asked me what food and stuff I liked. No one had even cared that much about me before, but I still didn't want to be around him.

Mr. Peabody shocked me even more when he took me shopping. I felt uncomfortable with him spending so much money on me. What was the point? I thought he was just wasting it on me.

Even though I didn't know it at the time, Mr. Peabody was (and still is) famous and talented. He's an inventor, scientist, artist, teacher, musician...Almost anything you can think of. There was an article about him fostering me. I guess it's a big deal to a lot of some people that a dog took in a teen.

Anyway, that day, people who knew him came up to us after we were done shopping and started asking questions. I freaked out and ran off. Later, Mr. Peabody found me. He seemed worried, but I didn't notice much.

When school started, Mr. Peabody sent me to a private school. By that time, I was at my limit at how much I was able to take without lashing out or crying. I started skipping classes, and I even yelled at Mr. Peabody for just trying to help me with my homework.

I guess the school called and told him that I was skipping classes because one day, he talked to me at school. I couldn't do anything that day. I literally couldn't function. He took me home, and after that, he offered to take me to a counselor. I didn't care much about that.

Seeing a counselor helped. At first, I would just sit in the office, unsure if I should have told her anything, but she was so nice to me that eventually, I started opening up. I also started taking different medicines than what I had been given, and Mr. Peabody made sure I took them every day. When some of them didn't work, I got different ones until I got some that started helping me feel better. My mind was a little clearer after I began taking the right meds. I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and Bipolar Disorder instead of depression.

Mr. Peabody did everything he could to help me. He supported me and didn't get angry with me or criticize me. He always asked how school was and if I was okay. Sometimes I would lie and say everything was fine, but he always seemed to know when I wasn't telling the truth, and he did his best to make me feel better. It worked. He also nurtured my love of art and music, even though I believed I sucked at both.

Eventually, life got quite a bit better, but I was still dealing with my feelings. I grew to love Mr. Peabody as a father even though I thought I shouldn't have since I wasn't going to stay with him very long, anyway, but I couldn't help but admire him and grow attached to him.

One night, I lost hope. It was bad enough to go through so much pain and be in bad situations, but it was worse being in a good situation and knowing that things would get bad again. Everything was too much to deal with, so I decided to kill myself.

I had no problems with using a knife since I had cut myself before. I at least wanted to be considerate and sit on some towels so there wouldn't be a mess on the floor. I turned the light off and turned my lamp on the dimmest setting.

I was just about to slash my wrists when the door opened, and the light turned on. Mr. Peabody came in and was terrified. I broke down, and he talked me out of committing suicide. He saved my life.

After that night, things got better. I became more honest about my feelings and got the help I needed.

A couple of months later, Mr. Peabody told me that he wanted to adopt me. I couldn't believe it! Even after all I put him through, he still wanted me to be his daughter, his real, adopted daughter. I became overjoyed after I got over my shock. Things were finally starting to fall into place. Things were finally starting to get better.


	4. Chapter 4

Nothing interesting or life-changing happened after Mr. Peabody adopted me until we went to Italy for my fourteenth birthday. I was so happy that he wanted to take me! I had been learning different languages, and Italian was one of them, so I already knew enough to communicate with people there.

We saw a lot of interesting and beautiful things, and I met a lot of people. My favorite person that I met, though, was named Alessandro.

Alessandro is a lot like me in some ways. He's into art but didn't tell anyone else he knew about his passion since he was afraid of being made fun of or criticized. His parents wanted him to have a career in sports, and he just wasn't into that.

I missed him when Mr. Peabody and I left Italy, but a couple of weeks later, he called me saying that he was going to visit me. I was so excited! Little did I know that there was more to him coming here than I thought.

Mr. Peabody and I met Alessandro at the airport, and he was alone. I didn't think it was strange at the time because I was just happy to see him. We then went home, and I showed Alessandro around, and we had dinner. During that time, Mr. Peabody said, "You arrived by yourself, Alessandro. Didn't you have anyone come with you?"

Alessandro looked nervous, and he said, "No one else could afford to go with me, and my parents knew that I wanted to go."

"I see," my dad stated.

After that, we mostly talked about New York City and how fun and great it is. Then, Alessandro said that it was time for him to leave. Mr. Peabody asked where he was staying, and Alessandro said that he had enough money to stay at a motel. Mr. Peabody mentioned that all of the places around to stay at were fairly expensive, so he offered for him to stay with us.

I was happy that Alessandro didn't have to leave and stay at a more unfamiliar place all by himself. He slept in the guest bedroom.

The next day, we took Alessandro to a museum, and Mr. Peabody educated him about all of the things we saw. Alessandro seemed to take everything in and was happy that someone else besides me took an interest in him.

Alessandro stayed two more days, then he said he had to go. That's when things turned upside-down.

Mr. Peabody and I offered to take him to the airport and see him off, but Alessandro refused rather quickly, which surprised me. I was a little hurt that he didn't want to say a final goodbye to me at the airport, but he insisted. As he was getting ready to leave the penthouse, Mr. Peabody stopped him. "Alessandro, you came here without your parents' permission."

I was shocked, but I shouldn't have been. I guess I was so focused on seeing Alessandro that I didn't even pay attention to any of the things that seemed off. What Alessandro replied shocked me even more.

"It's true. I came here without my parents knowing."

"You ran away?" I gasped.

Alessandro nodded. "I...I didn't know what to do. I'm so ashamed. Please forgive me."

I thought Mr. Peabody would be mad, but he just sat down and told Alessandro to sit, as well, and tell us why he ran away.

"My parents...They think I'm worthless. They pay attention to my other siblings. My older ones are interested in things that they want them to be, and my younger siblings take up a lot of their time."

"Have you tried talking to them?" Mr. Peabody asked, concerned.

"Yes, but it never has done any good. They think I'm inferior. I heard my mother say that she wishes I had never been born."

He continued, "I'm so sorry I lied to you both. I don't have any friends in Italy, and you were the only person I knew who would be okay with seeing me. I'm glad I did, but now that you think I'm a liar, I think it's best that I don't see you again."

I started crying. I didn't think he was a liar. I knew what he was going through. I ran away plenty of times from most of my old foster parents. I knew what it was like to be scared and alone. I couldn't hate him, and I definitely didn't want to not ever see him again.

Mr. Peabody carefully thought about what he was going to say, then he said, "You need to go back home, Alessandro, and I will help you talk to your parents. If we explained what happened in a calm way, I'm sure things would get better."

Alessandro shook his head and seemed frightened. "I can't go back now!" He yelled. "You don't know what they'll do to me when I get home!"

"I know they must be worried about you."

"No, you don't understand! Look!"

With tears running down his cheeks, he took off his shirt, which shocked both of us, but then, we grew horrified when we saw bruises on his back. He shouted, "If I go back, they'll hurt me!"

I bawled. I couldn't stop. I felt so much pain seeing him hurt like that. I begged Mr. Peabody to not send him back home.

"Oh, dear," Mr. Peabody said, softly. "Well, first, let's get those bruises taken care of. Some ice will make the swelling go down. We must tell the authorities what happened."

"They'll send him back!" I screamed.

"Calm down, Josephine, please." To Alessandro, he said, "I will try my hardest to make sure no more harm comes to you. I will fight for you. You are a good boy, and I will do whatever I can to make sure you have a good life."

Alessandro wiped his tears and said, "Thank you, Mr. Peabody." 


	5. Chapter 5

Well, Mr. Peabody and I went back to Italy. I thought the next time we'd go, it was going to be on another wonderful vacation, but the reason we went was depressing. We were going to take Alessandro back, and Mr. Peabody was going to try to talk to Alessandro's parents. It took a lot of coaxing to get Alessandro to even go back, but Mr. Peabody can convince people to do almost anything. If he wanted to, he could be a politician, but he's not corrupt.

All the way to Rome, both Alessandro and myself were nervous. I knew that if things got too intense, I'd do everything I could to protect him and my dad. I didn't want either of them to get hurt. I hoped it wouldn't get to that point.

When we landed, the three of us went to Alessandro's home, which was in a poorer part of the city. He had never talked about his house or what part of the city he lived in. He seemed embarassed about it, but there was nothing for him to be embarassed about. I still loved him, no matter where he lived.

Did I say loved? Er...

Anyway, Mr. Peabody was the one who knocked on the door while Alessandro stood behind him. A woman, whom I guessed was Alessandro's mother, opened the door. When she saw Alessandro, she started screaming at him and pulled his arm. She screamed at Mr. Peabody, accusing him of kidnapping Alessandro, while Mr. Peabody tried to calm her down.

Alessandro pulled away from her and explained that he had run away. Then, she screamed at him more. I couldn't really tell what she was saying since she spoke too fast, but I knew she was being mean. I almost had to cover my ears since she wouldn't stop screaming. She kept grabbing at him, but he finally ran off. I instintively ran after him.

I'm not a good runner. I have no idea where I got the energy to run so fast. I didn't want to lose him. I had gotten so attached to him that I never, ever wanted him to be out of my life.

I was scared. Is that how Mr. Peabody felt when I ran off that one time? Now, I understood the fear that he himself felt when he thought something bad would happen to me.

Finally, I caught up with Alessandro. I hugged him and tried to speak words of comfort, but I didn't know if it helped. He shook and tried not to shed tears. He yelled, "I told you two that this was a bad idea! I should have never come back!"

I didn't know what else to do to calm him down. Impulsively, I kissed him. It was my first kiss. I used to think that my first kiss would be sweet and romantic, but I had to let him know my feelings, especially that moment when he felt like life couldn't get much worse.

It worked. He calmed down. He looked at me, puzzled. "Why did you do that?"

I stammered, "I...I just...I'm sorry."

Then, HE kissed ME. "I didn't want to tell you before. I thought you would be insulted and uncomfortable," he said when we pulled away. "I didn't want to do anything unless you felt the same way about me."

"Alessandro, I love you. I don't want to lose you. Everything is going to be okay."

He didn't want to go back to his house, and I didn't blame him, so we just stood there and talked about our blossoming romance until Mr. Peabody found us. He seemed exhausted and angry, but it wasn't at us.

"Let's go. Both of you."

"What happened?"

"I'll explain later. Do you have anything at your home that you need to get?"

"No. Nothing at all."

"Then, let's leave."

"Mr. Peabody, what happened? Are you okay?" I asked, worried. Did something really bad happen to him? Could I have done something to prevent it? I felt guilty not being there.

"I will explain on the way home. By then, I'll be calm enough to explain."

I worried about him all the way to the airport.

On the plane, Alessandro fell asleep, and Mr. Peabody talked to me. Before he could say anything, however, I said, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I hope nothing bad happened to you." I started to cry, and I hugged him. He held me.

"No, Josephine, nothing bad happened to me. I'm alright. I'm actually glad both of you weren't there, and I imagine you went after him to comfort him."

"What happened?"

Mr. Peabody was quiet as if he was debating whether to tell me or not. Finally, he replied, "Alessandro's father came out after you two left, and I was finally able to explain what happened."

"And then?"

My dad sighed. "They didn't take it too well. I am sad to say that the last thing said was, 'Let the boy run. He's not welcome back.'"

"That's horrible! What are we going to do? Where is he going to go?"

"He will stay with us until he finds a home."

"But Mr. Peabody," I whimpered, "he doesn't deserve to be bounced around like I was. And...and I love him. I don't want him to leave and never see him again!"

"You love him?"

I nodded.

"I'm not surprised, though you should know that I will be keeping an even closer eye on you two. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Josephine. I hope you'll be wise."

"I will. Don't worry."

"I trust you, but I know how young men are. I'll have a talk with him later."

"Okay...and Mr. Peabody?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"All of this. I can't believe you went through all this trouble for someone."

"Alessandro is very special to you, and also, I can't stand to see a child suffer. This is all for the best."

The three of us went back to New York, and soon, a couple who lived close to us adopted Alessandro, and he went to my school. He still does. He's suppose to come over on Saturday, and Mr. Peabody is going to take us to see a musical.

There's one thing that worried me after everything was said and done that I completely forgot about. I became scared that Alessandro wouldn't like me after I told him I didn't ever want kids. It's one of the reasons I hadn't ever dated before. I also told him that I didn't want to have sex because I wasn't ready and wasn't old enough. I didn't want to risk getting pregnant. I was surprised when he said that was okay, that as long as I didn't change who I was, that he would still love me. I was relieved. We're still going strong, and I hope it lasts. 


	6. Chapter 6

So, that's about it. That's what my life has been like. There's not much else to say, and I actually do feel a little better writing all of this down. Life has been hell, but it's gotten a lot better.

When I asked Mr. Peabody one time how to deal with the bad times, he said, "Life indeed has its ups and downs. We must always be optimistic and do everything we can to make our circumstances better. It takes time and a lot of practise and discipline, but it can be done. Remember, Josephine, I'm here for you, and I will always love you."

He was right. Although there is a lot of injustice and heartache in life and in the world, it's not all bad. It does get better. I'm living proof.


End file.
